Display for the external surface of a vehicle

ABSTRACT

This invention relates to a system and method for customizing the appearance of vehicle that includes the display of content on the vehicle. The display takes up a large portion of the vehicle body and is flexible and bends with the contour of the vehicle body. The display can be integrated with the body panels or retrofitted o existing body panels of the vehicle.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of a prior application entitled“CUSTOMIZED VEHICLE BODY” which was assigned Ser. No. 12/559,820 andfiled Sep. 16, 2009 and is incorporated by reference herein in itsentirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention generally relates to customizing the look ofvehicles to a user's preferences and more particularly to a system forelectronically tailoring the lock of the vehicle by the user.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Customization of products and services allows an individual topersonalize an item to reflect a plethora of different moods,preferences, personalities, feelings, information, likes, dislikes, etc.Vehicles are an area in which people are often very particular and theirvehicles often serve as a sign of self-expression, style, functionality,individuality and a variety of other purposes. Currently, many vehiclemanufactures use internal or external designers to produce new looks fortheir vehicles. Some even perform marketing trials and tests todetermine which styles may sell the best in order o maximize theirinvestments. In order to account for the plethora of different styles, amanufacturer needs to produce a variety of different vehicle styles inorder to appease all the different tastes of users. This increases coststo the manufacturer and reduces profitability. In addition, users of thevehicle may not like the majority of vehicle designs that are availableand/or may wish that there were style differences to the existingvehicle to better fit their tastes.

In the past, there have been some ways for users to change the look oftheir vehicle's by adding stickers and painting different portions ofthe vehicle. These methods of customizing the look of their vehicle cantake a long time to complete (in cases such as painting the entirevehicle) as well as being very tiresome of a solution. In addition, theuser, if not versed in these types of customizations, may need to hire aprofessional to complete the customization.

There have been recent developments in display technologies, includingby way of example Liquid Crystal Displays (LCDs), Digital LightProjectors (DLPs) and the like. One particular recent display technologyis Organic Light Emitting Diode (OLED) technology. OLED displayscomprise LED's having an emissive electraluminescent layer that is madeup of organic compounds. These OLED displays are low-powered,light-weight, flexible and allow for high-resolution design display. Onereason for the reduced power is that OLED displays do not utilize abacklight and the displays can be made very thin (fractions ofmillimeters thick).

Presently, there is no way for the users or manufacturers of vehicles tocustomize their vehicles to display different high resolution designs ina quick and easy manner nor is there a way of covering large portions ofvehicles with a display. Typical display technologies are rigid and areeither square or rectangular in shape.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The object of the present invention is to provide a system for whichvehicles can be used to display design content. The system includes adisplay, control unit, power unit, input/output unit and memory. Thisallows the user to customize what is displayed on the vehicle thusaltering its appearance.

In one embodiment, the present invention allows a large portion,majorityor substantially the entire vehicular surface to display customizeddesigns.

In another embodiment, the present invention can be used to allow theuser to identify a color from a detector and then display the vehiclewith a color that is substantially the same color as the detected color.This allows the user to match the vehicles appearance to other objects.

The features, functions, and advantages of the present invention can beachieved independently in various embodiments of the present inventionsor may be combined in yet other embodiments.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

The object, features and advantages of the present invention will becomemore apparent by describing the invention with reference to theaccompanying figures, in which:

FIG. 1 a illustrates a block diagram of the electronic components of thevehicle in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 1 b illustrates an alternate block diagram of the electroniccomponents of the vehicle and includes a color detector interface inaccordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 1 c illustrates an alternate block diagram of the electroniccomponents of the vehicle and includes integrated memory in accordancewith an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 1 d illustrates an alternate block diagram of the electroniccomponents of the vehicle and includes both integrated memory and anintegrated input/output unit in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 2 a illustrates a vehicle of the present invention wherein thedisplay covers a certain portion of the vehicle's surface area inaccordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 b illustrates alternate vehicle of the present invention whereinthe display covers a larger portion of the vehicle's surface area inaccordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 a illustrates a configuration for using a color detection devicewith the vehicle in accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 3 b illustrates an alternate configuration for using a colordetection device with the vehicle in accordance with an embodiment ofthe present invention;

FIG. 4 illustrates a configuration of using the display to showpromotional content in accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 5 a illustrates a configuration for transferring design files toand from the vehicle in accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 5 b illustrates an alternate configuration for transferring designfiles to and from the vehicle in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 5 c illustrates an alternate configuration for transferring designfiles to and from the vehicle in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 5 d illustrates an alternate configuration for transferring designfiles to and from the vehicle in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 6 a illustrates an outer view of a retrofitting version of theinvention in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 b illustrates a rear/inward view of a retrofitting version of thedisplay in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 illustrates a flow diagram of operations performed by oneembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 illustrates a flow diagram of operations performed by anotherembodiment of the present invention,

Corresponding reference characters indicate corresponding partsthroughout the drawings. The exemplification set of characters herein isnot to be construed as limiting the scope of the invention in anymanner.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The following detailed description is of the best currently contemplatedmodes of carrying out the invention. The description is not to be takenin a limiting sense, but is made merely for the purpose of illustratingthe general principles of the invention, since the scope of theinvention is best defined by the appended claims.

1. Definitions

The following terms used throughout the disclosure are defined asfollows:

User—Any person, group or entity that uses the system or methods of thepresent invention.

Vehicle—Any mechanical means for the conveyance or transport of peopleor other animals including but not limited to cars, trucks, buses,bicycles, motorcycles, trains, ships, boats, aircraft, watercraft,hovercraft, spacecraft, carriages, roadway vehicles, snow vehicles,underwater vehicles and the like.

Content—Any text data, image data, color data, video data, sound data orany combination thereof.

Design—Particular set of content being presented on the display of thevehicle.

Design files—Software files that store data and/or instructions used todefine and display the design.

Display—Device or devices for showing pixels representing the design andis located over any area of the vehicle. The display may be a singleelement or may comprise a plurality of elements making up differentsections to cover different parts of the vehicle.

Vehicle Surface—All outwardly exposed surface area of the vehicle thatcan be seen including by way of example top, bottom, front, back, sides,and the like.

Electronic Computing Device—Any device used for processing data andhaving one or more processors, program logic, or other substrateconfigurations representing data and instructions, which operate asdescribed herein. The processor can comprise controller circuitry,processor circuitry, processors, general purpose single-chip ormulti-chip microprocessors, digital signal processors, embeddedmicroprocessors, microcontrollers and the like. The devices canincluding by way of example a personal computer (PC), laptop, netbook,cellular phone, personal digital assistant (PDA), laptop computer, handheld computer, notebook, tablet PC, mobile telephone, Internet server,intranet server, mobile devices or the like.

2. Vehicle

FIG. 1 a shows a block diagram of the system 10 of electronic componentsrelated to the vehicular display of the present invention. Theseelectronic components include but are not limited to a control unit (CU)1, display 2, power unit 3, input/output (I/O) unit 4, and memory 5.

The CU 1 of the vehicle may include but is not limited to any processingcircuitry used to execute instructions and to control some or all of theother components of the vehicle including the I/O unit 4, memory 5,display 2, power unit 3, and any other electronic components of thesystem. The CU 1 may comprise both memory and computational portions.The CU 1 can be any circuitry including by way of example: controllercircuitry, processor circuitry, processors, general purpose single-chipor multi-chip microprocessors, digital signal processors, embeddedmicroprocessors, microcontrollers and the like.

The power unit 3 of the system may be any power supply including by wayof example batteries, solar cells, kinetic, power-over-ethernet (POE),power-over-wi-fi (POWF) or any other known power supply. The powersupplies can also come from, where applicable, the vehicle's battery byconnecting it directly or indirectly such as through the lighter/powerport. In the case of kinetic, the motion and movement of the vehicle canbe used to generate power for energizing the display 2 or recharging anybattery attached thereto. In addition, the power unit 3 by itself or inconjunction with the CU 1 can be used to implement a power managementscheme. The power management scheme may include powering down thedisplay 2 when the vehicle is detected to not be in use or putting thedisplay 2 in a low-power or power saving mode. Power management can alsobe configured by the user.

The memory 5 is used to store a variety of data including but notlimited to any design file the user wishes to display, programs,operating systems, any overhead/processing data and any other data orinstructions needed for the system to operate. The memory 5 can includeany know memory type including by way of example static-state memorysuch as static-state-drives (SSD), flash memory, EEPROM, SRAM, DRAM,RAM, or any other memory device that does not require mechanicallymoving parts that are typically found hard drives. Modern day harddrives typically include moveable parts such as spinning platters/disks,read/write arms/heads and motors. Due to the motion of the vehicle,memory devices having movable parts may be susceptible to errors.Therefore using a solid-state memory device alleviates this problem. Inone embodiment, the memory can be integrated within the CU 1 itself andno additional memory circuitry needs to be present in the system. Inanother embodiment, the memory can be any removable memory including byway of example SD, MMC, Mini SD, Micro SD, T-Flash, MS, M2 or the like.The size of the memory may vary between 64 megabytes through 20gigabytes or more. FIG. 1 c, shows an embodiment wherein the memory 5 isintegrated within the CU 1.

The I/O unit 4 may operate using any communication protocol including byway of example any wired or wireless protocol, IEEE 1394, Firewire,Universal Serial Bus (USB) 1.0 or higher, RS-232, Ethernet, UltrawideBand (UWB), Zigbee, 60 GHz, Wi-fi. 802.11x (where x equals a,b,g,n, orthe like), Bluetooth, Radio Frequency (RF), Infrared (IR), cellulartelephone, IEEE 802.15.1, CDMA, TDMA, FDMA, wireless, or the like. Thecommunications medium in which these protocols are implemented can be ofany type including by way of example dedicated communication lines,telephone networks, wireless data transmission systems, two-way cablesystems, customized computer networks, interactive kiosk networks,automatic teller machine networks, interactive television networks, andthe like. In another embodiment, the 110 unit 4 may also be integratedwithin the CU 1 itself, as shown in FIG. 1 d.

The display 2 is any device that can produce a large number of pixels inorder to display high resolution images or video. The display of thepresent invention may be of a single display or multiple displays thatcover one or more portions of the vehicle surface. The present inventionis capable of supporting a plethora of resolutions in the range of about50 pixels to 2 million pixels or more. In one embodiment the display candisplay about 500,000-1,000,000 pixels or more and multiple displaysused when a large portion of the vehicle surface is to be covered. Inanother embodiment, when the majority or substantially the entirevehicle surface is covered, the display can display about 2,000,000 ormore pixels. One important aspect of the invention is that the display 2can be used over a large portion, a majority or substantially the entirevehicle surface. The resolution or number of pixels in the display 2will depend on a number of factors including by way of example thevehicle surface area covered by the display, the native resolution ofthe display, the shape of the vehicle, the user's desired resolution,the resolution of content in the design files to be displayed or anycombination thereof. The native resolution is a parameter that indicateshow many pixels the display actually has. If a user chooses a resolutionthat is different than the native resolution then the resolution will beconverted or scaled to fit the native resolution. The size and shape ofthe display of the present invention will be indicative of the nativeresolution and will vary depending on the vehicle type, size and vehiclesurface to be covered. The user can adjust the resolution of the designfile being displayed so that it is higher or lower than the nativeresolution and the control unit will adaptively drive the display byconverting or scaling to image with respect to the native resolution.For example, if display 2 has a native resolution of about 1 millionpixels and the user wishes to display an image of the design file havingabout 500,000 pixels the CU 1 may up-convert the image to be displayedon the 1 million pixel display. The user may want to adjust theresolution to best match the particular resolution of an image in thedesign the to the native resolution of the display in order to get thebest quality. For example, if the display or number of displays coverssubstantially the entire vehicle surface and each has a nativeresolution of about 2 million pixels then the user may want toup-convert or down-convert the resolution to best display a particularimage on the display. The system is flexible in what resolutions it candisplayed and this resolution can be chosen by the user. In oneembodiment, the surface area covered by the display 2 is greater thanabout 25% of the entire vehicle surface. In another embodiment thesurface area of the display 2 is between about 40% and 80% of the entirevehicle surface. In another embodiment the display 2 may also cover upto substantially the entire vehicle surface. The display 2 may be madeof any known thin film display and will be covered by a coating or otherprotection methods known in the art to protect the display from weather,temperature, water, scratching and impact damage. In one embodiment, thedisplay 2 may comprise any LED display including by way of exampleOrganic Light Emitting Diode/Device/Display (OLED), Active MatrixOrganic Light Emitting Diode (AMOLED), FOLED (Flexible Organic LightEmitting Diode), PhOLED (Phosphorescent Organic Light Emitting Diode,PLED (Polymer Light Emitting Diode, PMOLED (Passive Matrix OLED), POLED(Polymer Organic Light Emitting Diode), RCOLED (Resonant Color OrganicLight Emitting Diode), SmOLED (Small Molecule Organic Light EmittingDiode, SOLED (Stacked Organic Light Emitting Diode), TOLED (TransparentOrganic Light Emitting Diode), NOID (Neon Organic Iodine Diode) or thelike. The display or displays of the present invention are such thatthey are flexible and can substantially fit the exact contour of avehicle body no matter what the shape of the body. Typical displays areusually square or rectangular in shape, have a thickness greater thanone inch and are rigid. The current invention on the other hand utilizesa display that is extremely thin and flexible so it can contour to alarge portion of or the entire body of the vehicle.

According to FIG. 1 a, the user transfers design files using the I/Ounit 4 and the files are stored in memory 5. The CU 1 executes a programthat uses the design files stored in memory 5 in order to generate thecontent that will be shown on the display 2. The power unit 3 providesthe power needed for each block to operate and may have an associatedpower management scheme.

FIG. 1 b shows the electronic configuration of FIG. 1 a with the addedcomponent of the detector interface 6. The detector is discussed below.

Some or all of the electronic components 1-6 may be integrated with thevehicle itself, mounted on any surface of the vehicle or may be locatedat a distance but communicatively coupled to the vehicle. For electroniccomponents of system 10 that are integrated within the vehicle they maybe hidden within any part of the vehicle including by way of example theinterior pockets, between panels or any other part of the vehicle orcombination thereof. In addition, all electronic components may beprotected with moisture and temperature proofing techniques known in theart.

FIGS. 2 a and 2 b show two exemplary configurations of the presentinvention. FIG. 2 a shows vehicle 200 having a plurality of sections201-203. In this configuration the display of the present inventionwould cover the surface area denoted by the diagonal lines of section201 (rear and front side panels). Sections 202 (door) and 203 (roof) donot include the display. The high-resolution design file would generatecontent that covers the entire section 201. FIG. 2 b shows anotherconfiguration wherein the display also covers the areas denoted by 201,202 and 203. The user can customize the design displayed in any or allof these sections. The design areas cover a large portion of the surfaceof the vehicle. In the configuration of FIG. 2 b, areas 201-203 may bethe same display image or may display different display images. Inaddition, in the configuration of FIG. 2 b, areas 201-203 may be of asingle display or multiple displays.

The display or displays covering the areas 201-203 are such that theyare flexible and can fit the contour of a vehicle body no matter whatthe shape of the vehicle's body.

3. Designs

Designs that are to be displayed by the vehicle can be created by theusers of the vehicle themselves using any existing software programincluding for example Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, MicrosoftPaint, or the like. Additionally, the user may use proprietary softwareprogram that provided or associated with the present invention. Thisproprietary software program may be provided to the user using any formof software delivery including for example hard copy, compact disc (CD),flash drive, downloadable form, Internet based, or the like. Further,the software program may advantageously be implemented as one or moremodules. The modules may advantageously be configured to execute on oneor more processors. The modules may comprise, but are not limited to,any of the following: software or hardware components such as softwareobject-oriented software components, class components and taskcomponents, processes methods, functions, attributes, procedures,subroutines, segments of program code, drivers, firmware, microcode,circuitry, data databases, data structures, tables, arrays, variables,or the like.

The user may also obtain designs from the Internet for free and/or for afee basis. Internet designs may be created by the user using either adesktop-based interface or a web-based interface and transferred to aweb server for later retrieval or the designs can be created by otherusers and downloaded by the current user from the other users. Thesoftware used for the design may be located on any electronic computingdevice. The software may also be located at and executed using thevehicle itself. As mentioned earlier, the designs can be completelycustomized to display high-resolution images, high-resolution videoand/or large color depth pixels representing a single or variety ofcolors or patterns. In one embodiment, the design can be video and thedisplay frequency can range from about 15 frames-per-second to about 120frames-per-second or about 15 Hz to about 120 Hz. In another embodimentthe display frequency is 60 frames-per-second or 60 Hz. In oneembodiment the color depth is between about 8-bits and 48-bits. Thisrange will allow the user to select or detect a large gamut of colors.In another embodiment the color depth is 24-bits which would providetrue color which is able to produce over 16.7 million distinct colors.Of the 24-bits in true color, 8 bits represent red, another 8 bitsrepresent green and the last 8 bits represent blue. In anotherembodiment the color depth may be 36 bits or 48 bits or more which willallow the user to display high-end graphics.

In another embodiment, a user may wish to have some or all of the pixelcolors match substantially the same color as another object. Forinstance, if the vehicle's interior seating is of a certain shade ofgray, then the user might want some or all of the pixels to besubstantially the same color. The user selects a color that issubstantially the same as the color of the interior seating usingsoftware by choosing colors or color coordinates/values from a largecollection of different colors already stored in the softwareapplication. In addition, the present invention also includes a colordetector that can automatically detect the color of the interior andautomatically determine the corresponding color coordinates/values. Thecolor coordinates/values may be any known color coordinates includingfor example RGB, HTML Hex, YBR or the like. Based on the determinedcolor coordinates the design to be displayed may include all or some ofthe pixels having the same color coordinates or at a desired differentshade of the color coordinates, thereby providing substantially the samecolor in the display as the vehicle interior. In one embodiment,‘substantially the same color’ refers to a color that is so closelyidentical to the color of the interior such that a human eye cannoteasily tell the difference in the color or ‘substantially the samecolor’ may also refer to a color wherein the human eye can see adifference but the color difference is negligible, acceptable oractually wanted by the user. Thus, the user can match the color beingdisplayed by the vehicle display to any other part of the vehicle orother object. The user can also select to have the detected colordisplayed in substantially all the pixels of the display or a portionthereof. Other objects the detector can be used to detect the color ofinclude different vehicle parts in cases where the user wishes to matchthe vehicle color to these parts. The colors may also want to match to acertain color scheme dependent on what the driver/user is wearing. Forexample, if the user is a race car driver who has a certain colorscheme, the pixels displayed can be set to match the color scheme of thedriver. Another example, is an emergency or government vehicle, such asa police car where the colors associated with the police department canbe set. Since the pattern of the display can change the actual body ofemergency or government vehicles can also be programmed to flash thusmaking them more visible when driving in cases of emergencies. Thedetector can also detect patterns and/or multiple colors therebyallowing the vehicle to snatch the pattern of another object. Further, auser can use the detected colors from the detector to create a patternor other image to be displayed on the vehicle. Another application ofthe present invention may be for military vehicles that operate indifferent geographical environments, thereby requiring differentcamouflage colors. The present invention would allow military personnelto use the same vehicle for each of those different environments by justchanging the displayed pattern.

FIGS. 3 a & 3 b show the use of the color detector feature of thepresent invention. FIG. 3 a includes the vehicle 300 with the display ofthe present invention coupled to an electronic computing device 301. Inthis configuration, the electronic computing device 301 stores andexecutes a program that determines the color of interior seat 303. Theuser uses a color detection device 302 to sense the color of theinterior 303. The color values are processed by electronic computingdevice 301 to determine color values that represent substantially thesame color as that of the interior seat 303 and these values are sent tothe vehicle 300 in a design file. The vehicle 300 uses this design fileto generate pixel colors that have substantially the same color as thecolors of the interior 303. FIG. 3 b, shows a configuration wherein thecolor detection device 302 is coupled directly to the vehicle 300, usingthe I/O unit and without any intervening electronic computing device. Inthis configuration, the control unit of the vehicle 300 stores andexecuting the program used to determine the color values of the interiorseat 303. The control unit would then create the design file itself andexecute the program to display pixels colors that are substantially thesame color as the interior seat 303. In addition, from FIG. 3 b, theuser can transfer the design files made using the color detection device302 and the control unit to a different electronic computing device forfurther editing of the design by the user. After redesigning the designfiles the user can transfer them back to the vehicle and/or share themwith other users for free or for a fee.

In another embodiment, the designs f the present invention can be usedfor sales and marketing promotions. Since the present invention allowsfor high-resolution images, video and/or audio, the user can display byway of example a logo, company name, advertisement or any otherpromotional content of a company or other organization in the display.One application may be for a user that is race car driver wherein theirvehicle may be viewed by a large number of people watching a race. Theuser can agree to display the promotional content for free or for a fee.The design process can allow for the display to remain for any amount oftime and may consist of a single promotion, multiple promotionssimultaneously, multiple promotions sequentially, and any combinationthereof. The fee structure may include any fee structure known in theart including but not limited to pay-per-display, pay-per-minute orauction-based.

FIG. 4 shows vehicle 400 of the present invention wherein the vehicle isused to display promotional material for a company, ‘XYZ Company’. Inthis configuration, the display fills the surface area of the vehicle insections 401 (rear side panel), 402 (door) and 403 (front side panel)and displays the company's name. Alternatively, the remaining section404 (roof) may also be covered by the display and show the company nameor any additional content. Additionally, any other exposed part of thevehicle can be used to display the content including by way of example,the hood, trunk and sidewalls of the wheels.

FIGS. 5 a-5 d show different configurations for communicating designfiles and any other data to and from the vehicle for display. FIG. 5 ashows a configuration wherein the vehicle 501 is coupled to anelectronic computing device 503 and the user transfers the design filesalready stored on the electronic computing device 503 to the vehicleusing interconnect 502. Interconnect 502 is connected to the I/O unit ofthe vehicle 501 and may communicate using any wired or wireless protocolincluding but is not limited to IEEE 1394, Firewire, Universal SerialBus (USB) 1.0 or higher, RS-232, Ethernet, Ultrawide Band (UWB), Zigbee,60 GHz, Wi-fi, 802.11x (where x equals a,b,g,n, etc.), PSTN, Bluetooth,Radio Frequency (RF), Infrared (IR), cellular telephone, IEEE 802.15.1,CDMA, TDMA FDMA, wireless, or any other proprietary or non-proprietarycommunication protocol. FIG. 5 b shows a configuration wherein the userfirst transfers the design files from a LAN/WAN 504, such as theInternet or some other network, to the electronic computing device 503and then transfers the design files from the electronic computing device503 to the vehicle 501. FIG. 5 c shows a configuration wherein thedesign files are directly transferred from the LAN/WAN 504 to thevehicle 501. FIG. 5 d, shows a configuration wherein designs arecommunicated directly between two different vehicles 501. In the caseshown in FIG. 5 d, each of the two vehicles 501 may be owned by the sameuser or a different user, thus allowing for sharing of designs.

Sharing designs amongst users can be beneficial in that if one userlikes the design of another user, then each of the users can communicateone or more design files directly between their vehicle without the needof any intervening network or electronic computing device. This can bedone using the I/O units of each vehicle. The user can select toimmediately display the communicated one or more design files or save itin the vehicle to display later or transfer the saved one or more designfiles to an electronic computing device at a later time. The presentinvention may also include actuators located on the vehicle to commencedesign file transfer between vehicles, any electronic computing deviceor any WAN/LAN, wherein the actuators may includes any actuatorincluding by way of example soft keys, touch screen, hard keys, aremote/handheld control or the like. Alternatively, commencement of thedesign file transfer may take place automatically or without anyintervention by the user. Additionally, commencement of the filetransfer may also take place through the use of a user interface of anelectronic computing device that is in communication with the user'svehicle, thus providing an interface for entering design file transfercommands. The interface is any interface including by example voiceactivated commands, Graphical User Interface (GUI), menus and the like.Commencement of the design file transfer can take place using theelectronic computing device.

The display of the designs can also be altered in a plurality of ways.The display can be programmed to display different designs according toany different number of metrics or combinations of metrics including byway of example different times of day, cyclically at a particular rate,different temperatures, the level of light in the surroundingenvironment or the like.

Although the above descriptions include having the electronic componentsof the system integrated with the vehicle, the system can also beimplemented as a retrofit solution wherein the user has an existingvehicle and wishes to add the customization aspect of the presentinvention. In this instance, the user will attach the display to theexisting vehicle along with the corresponding electronic components.

FIGS. 6 a and 6 b show a retrofit solution provided by the presentinvention. FIG. 6 a shows a front view of different displayscorresponding to different sections of the vehicle shown in FIG. 2 a.Display 601 corresponding to a roof section, display 602 correspondingto a rear side panel section, display 603 corresponding to a doorsection and display 604 corresponds to a front side panel section. Thefront of the displays 601-604 are located toward the front or outerportion of the vehicle and is visible to a user or anyone looking towardthe vehicle. Since the displays 601-604 are made of flexible materialthe user can attach or wrap the displays 601-604 around the existingvehicle so that the display substantially fits the contour of thevehicle sections. FIG. 6 b shows a rear view or a view when the displays601-604 are flipped over exposing the back side of the displays 601-604of FIG. 6 a. The back sides of displays 601-604 include attachment means605 that are used to attach the displays 601-604 to the existingvehicle. Attaching means 605 can be any means for attaching the displaysto the existing vehicle including by way of example Velcro®, snappingbuttons, tongue & groove, glue, tape, adhesive, stitching or any otherknown means. FIGS. 6 a & 6 b also include connector 602. Connector 602couples the displays 601-604 to a control unit so that is can receivethe signals to display the designs. The user uses a module containingthe electronic components of the system such as those described in FIGS.1 a-1 d and connects the module to the display using connector 602. Theelectronics for the retrofit embodiment can be housing anywhere withinthe vehicle or held by the user. When connected, the displays 601-604and electronic components operate in the same fashion as described inthe other embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 7 demonstrates operations performed in accordance with the presentinvention. In operation 701 the I/O unit of the vehicle receives contentthat is to be displayed. In operation 702 the CU executes instructions(program) to display the content. In operation 703 the display incommunication with the CU shows the content.

FIG. 8 also demonstrates operations performed using a color detector inaccordance with the present invention. In operation 801, detection of acolor or pattern of an object is made by the user or a detector device.In operation 802 a determination of the color values of the object aremade. This determination can be made by the user visually inspecting theobject and choosing a color from a color gamut presented to the user inthe software application or the user can use a detector that canautomatically detect and determine the color values. Based on thedetection a color that is substantially the same color as the object isdetermined. In operation 803 the content is created wherein some or allof the pixels use the detected color or pattern. In operation 804, theCU executes a program to display the content on the display of thevehicle. In operation 806 the display, being in communication with theCU, shows the content.

Although specific embodiments of the present invention have beenillustrated and described herein, it will be appreciated by those ofordinary skill in the art that any arrangement which is calculated toachieve the same purpose may be substituted for the specific embodimentsshown. In addition, although the above invention is demonstrated as asoftware based implementation, the invention could be implemented assoftware, hardware, or any combination foreseeable to one of ordinaryskill in the art. This application is intended to cover any adaptationsor variations within the spirit of the invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A system for displaying customized content on avehicle, comprising: A vehicle having an exterior surface; A controlunit (CU); Memory; A display; An Input/Output (I/O) unit; and A powerunit; Wherein the display shows the customized content; Wherein thedisplay occupies between 40% to about 100% of the exterior surface ofthe vehicle.
 2. The system of claim 1, wherein the display is flexibleand bends with the contour of the exterior surface of the vehicle. 3.The system of claim 1, wherein the display is not substantially flat orrigid and wherein the display is flexible and bends with the contour ofthe exterior surface of the vehicle.
 4. The system of claim 1, whereinthe display is not square or rectangular in shape.
 5. The system ofclaim 1, wherein the display has a characteristic or any one of thefollowing: 8-bit to 48-bit color depth, 15 frames to 120frames-per-second frame rate, 15 Hz to 120 Hz operating frequency and acolor depth between 8-bits to 16-bits.
 6. The system of claim 1, whereinthe I/O unit may use at least one of the following protocols: IEEE 1394,Firewire, USB, USB, RS-232, Ethernet, Ultrawide Band (UWB), Zigbee, 60GHz, Wi-fi, 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g, 802.11n wired and wireless,Bluetooth, Radio Frequency (RF), Infrared (IR), cellular, IEEE 802.15.1,CDMA, TDMA and FDMA.
 7. The system of claim 1, wherein the power unitprovides power using at least one of the following: batteries, solar,kinetic, power-over-ethernet (POE) and power-over-wifi (POWF).
 8. Thesystem of claim 1, wherein the memory consists of one of the following:static-state-drives (SSD), flash memory, EEPROM, SRAM, DRAM and RAM. 9.The system of claim 1, wherein the system further comprises aloudspeaker.
 10. The system of claim 1, wherein the customized contentconsists of at least one of the following: text data, image data, colordata, video data, sound data or any combination thereof.
 11. The systemof claim 1, wherein the customized content is designed using a softwareprogram.
 12. The system of claim 11, wherein the software programexecutes on at least one of the following: a desktop PC, laptop PC,netbook, notebook, tablet PC, PDA, mobile telephone, Internet server,Intranet server, mobile device and said CU.
 13. The system of claim 1,wherein the display consists of one of the following: Organic LightEmitting Diode/Device/Display (OLED), Active Matrix Organic LightEmitting Diode (AMOLED), FOLED (Flexible Organic Light Emitting Diode),PhOLED (Phosphorescent Organic Light Emitting Diode, PLED (Polymer LightEmitting Diode, PMOLED (Passive Matrix. OLED), POLED (Polymer OrganicLight Emitting Diode), RCOLED (Resonant Color Organic Light EmittingDiode), SmOLED (Small Molecule Organic Light Emitting Diode, SOLED(Stacked Organic Light Emitting Diode), TOLED (Transparent Organic LightEmitting. Diode) and NOID (Neon Organic Iodine Diode).
 14. The system ofclaim 1, wherein the display is integrated into one or more body panelsof the vehicle.
 15. The system of claim 1, wherein the display isretrofitted onto one or more body panels of an existing vehicle.